New York University's men's volleyball team fell to Springfield College in straight sets on Tuesday night in the Violets' 2023 regular season finale in Springfield, MA.
NYU finishes the regular season with a 12-9 record and now prepares for the United Volleyball Conference (UVC) tournament later this week as the sixth seed.
Springfield won via set scores of 25-21, 25-20, 25-19 while five Violets recorded four-or-more kills.
"A tough but somewhat misleading loss at the hands of Springfield," said head coach
José Piña. "Set one was very competitive as we out-hit and out-blocked them, but our serving was spotty at best with two aces and nine misses which were the difference."
Gautham Dasari (.375) and
Ry Kagan (.667) had five kills each for the team high while
Robert Allen,
Lucas Osiecki and
Luke Boyer each added four kills.
Osieki also posted team highs of four digs and three service aces while
Ryan Li produced a team-high 15 assists.
NYU led 9-4 early in the first set but Springfield eventually tied the score at 19-19 and finished the frame on a 6-1 run to come out on top.
The Violets only lead in the second was an early 2-1 edge as the Pride notched 15 kills in the set on .458 hitting while limiting NYU to a .091 percent clip.
"Set two we played well, but the adjustment made to less risky serves made their offense more effective," Piña noted. "We played tough in both sets but did not get the results we wanted."
Set three was close as a Dasari kill brought NYU within two, 17-15, but Springfield responded with six consecutive points to take an insurmountable advantage.
"In set three, they jumped to an early lead on the strength of their serving pressure," Piña added. "Once we stabilized our serve receive, we went toe-to-toe with them but were not able to rally and make up for the early deficit. Well played match by our middles Ry and Robbie."
The Violets begin the UVC tournament, which will be hosted by top-seeded Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY, on Friday, April 14, against St. John Fisher University at 7:30 p.m.
